Selective investment to capture the potential of Vietnam's retail market

Overview of Vietnam's retail market 2020: Short-term difficulties Retail market expected to recover strongly in the last months of the year

What difference will the selective investment strategy bring to Vietnamese consumers as well as the current retail market? The Electronic Industry and Trade Newspaper had a quick talk with Mr. Vo Van Lot, Acting Director of the Operations Division of Binh Duong and Dong Nai region of AEON Vietnam.

Đầu tư chọn lọc để đón đầu tiềm năng của thị trường bán lẻ Việt Nam

Mr. Vo Van Lot, representative of AEON Vietnam, shared the difference of the Lean supermarket model to meet the diverse needs of each locality.

It is known that in the current gloomy context of the retail market due to a sharp decrease in purchasing power, AEON Vietnam still opened the first Lean Supermarket model in the South. Can you share about the expansion of this brand's retail channel?

That's right. At the end of July, AEON Vietnam officially opened the first Lean Supermarket in the South - AEON Binh Duong New City, at SORA Gardens SC Shopping Center, Binh Duong New City, with an area of ^5,000m2 , bringing AEON standard shopping experiences closer to local customers. This is also one of AEON Vietnam's selective investment strategies to diversify retail models to accelerate expansion and meet customer needs.

You talked about AEON Vietnam’s selective investment strategy in the retail market. Can you share more clearly about whether this strategy will improve purchasing power now and in the future?

Vietnam is considered to possess all the favorable factors for long-term growth and development more than some countries in Asia, typically political stability, low inflation, abundant labor force with competitive labor costs, friendly investment environment, ...

Identifying Vietnam as the second key market alongside Japan in its long-term strategy, AEON Vietnam has therefore developed a strategy to selectively invest in business activities, in order to prepare for future development through the development of private label products and e-commerce channels, while expanding business locations with diverse models, flexible in scale, suitable for different needs and actual conditions of each locality.

Especially after the Covid-19 pandemic, customers' shopping habits and behaviors have also changed, prioritizing convenience, choosing locations close to home and tightening spending, focusing on purchasing essential products for daily life. That is the reason why AEON Vietnam launched the first Lean Supermarket model in Binh Duong New City to meet the "close and convenient" needs of the majority of urban residents with quality products, services and shopping experiences suitable for young customers and foreigners living and working in this area.

In the current difficult retail context, Aeon is quite flexible in offering many business models suitable for each residential area. So what is the biggest difference between the Lean Supermarket model in Binh Duong and other types of supermarkets, sir?

The most obvious difference here is the streamlined model from the shopping mall, drawing out the most essential points of daily necessities to develop in neighboring residential areas.

High quality pre-processed and semi-processed products are the most chosen by customers in Binh Duong New City area.

The target customers of this model are young families and some areas will be foreigners. For example, the Lean Supermarket in Binh Duong with an area of 5,000m2 will have a supermarket area, Delica buffet food and coffee.

The supermarket area gathers quality products, convenient for daily life such as fresh foods, many organic products to meet the healthy living trend. Special attention is paid to processed products (Ready to eat), pre-processed products (Ready to cook), frozen products, ... will help families save time, convenient to use.

The Delica buffet area helps customers proactively choose dishes according to their preferences from a variety of Japanese, Korean, and Thai cultures, along with salad bars, sushi, etc., or the Barista Beans area specializing in serving coffee, tea, cakes, etc., providing many spaces for guests to experience.

In terms of service quality, is there anything different about the Lean Supermarket model to enhance the customer experience?

In addition to ensuring AEON's service quality standards, we increase investment in digital transformation to bring more convenience to customers such as: smart lockers, automatic food ordering machines, semi-automatic payment counters (customers swipe their own cards to pay).

In the near future, we will have a separate utility area to save time for office workers to order in advance, when they arrive, they just need to press a button to receive the goods without having to wait. In areas with a large foreign population such as Binh Duong, there will be a separate payment counter with foreign language staff, creating convenience and comfort.

In particular, the Lean Supermarket in Binh Duong also focuses on environmental issues, responding to the plastic waste reduction program of the Department of Industry and Trade. The supermarket has a discount policy when customers do not use plastic bags, and has a priority counter for customers who do not use plastic bags...

Thanks for sharing!

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